Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 07 - Revolution Read Free Page B

shifted in mid-stride, turning into a lean black wolf.
Jameson howled his promise of retribution for Luuk’s injury, for years of having to run and hide and barely get by. He dug his nails into the ground with each step, propelling him forward with more force than he’d known he had.
Inside him was the staccato beat of kill him kill him kill him, Jameson’s wolf tromping over the man and devouring his morals and qualms. Jameson didn’t fight it. The man in him was too soft, too fucked up to do what needed to be done. He closed his spiritual eyes and let his wolf observe.
The black wolf snarled and came to a skidding halt. He turned and put his ears back. His lips pulled up, exposing long canines and saliva dripping from his muzzle. His dark eyes flashed fear and hatred at Jameson.
Jameson was surprised by the stop, but he quickly saw the reason why. Whether by error and panic or deliberate cunning, the black wolf had brought them to a ledge. Jameson thought it was the former. The black wolf could either go down the mountainside or through Jameson, since he blocked the only path to freedom that wouldn’t kill them.
The black wolf reacted as cornered wild beasts do, anger and fear pouring from him as he howled and charged Jameson. There was no skill, no honour—this was a match of death and neither wolf wanted to lose.
Jameson surged up, locking his front legs around the black wolf’s shoulders. They bit and tore at each other, catching lips and cheeks and ears. Jameson managed to get a mouthful of the other’s shoulder but quickly let go when he felt teeth scrape the side of his neck.
They separated and moved back, eyeing each other. Jameson could smell the fear and the blood on his opponent. His own blood had been spilled, but not like the black wolf’s, whose fur was soaked at the shoulder and glistening in the moonlight.
Jameson saw the flicker of the wolf’s next move before it happened. His instincts seemed to be at their prime, perhaps because he had stepped back as a man and given over to his primeval nature. The black wolf came at him fast, but Jameson was already moving, angling his body, baring his teeth.
By the time the other wolf realised what was happening, Jameson had hopped aside just enough to be able to turn his head and bite deep. Pain shot through his side as his opponent retaliated, tearing at him. But Jameson only growled, his heartbeat calm as blood flowed into his mouth.
The man in him completely shut down as his wolf clamped his jaws tighter and shook his head. The resulting damage to the black wolf was fatal and messy. His wolf didn’t care. The threat was gone, at least the threat to his mate was. For now.
But what price would his human half pay? His wolf howled again, scared and aching, calling out to his mate.
Chapter Five
    Heart sputtering in his chest, Luuk stumbled as Jamie’s howl rent the air. He hadn’t been quick enough, good enough, alpha enough to protect his mate. The failure tore at him, more painful than the bullet had been.
    Luuk forced his legs to move. He didn’t think the shot had been fatal, and he should heal quickly. But not as fast as he used to. Luuk had noticed that the last time he’d been injured, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it.
    Jamie had done something Luuk very much feared would scar him in a way no amount of shifter healing could fix. There was nothing wrong with killing for defence—hell, in the shifter realm, they often killed for reasons that made Luuk fear for all shifter-kind. But Jamie was a gentle soul, or he had been, before Luuk had dragged him down.
    Another howl, this one tinged with more desperation, less hope. Luuk willed his body to mend and he found a burst of energy and strength only Jamie could have inspired in him. Luuk wasn’t particularly steady on all fours when he ascended to where Jamie was sitting, nose up to welcome the night sky as he cried out in misery.
    The stench of blood and death was strong, and while Luuk could